Metal rail for railways.



No. 768,518. v PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904. J. GOUGHLAN. METAL RAIL FOR RAILWAYSQ N0 MODEL.

2 i To FA f .v Q W 3; i E0 on no on v/ T U m 0 0 v M M a 1 O .2 m w a L 3.. .M a 2 Q L 1 hill 3 00 1 6 7 oo oo o o oo- 0 l UNITED. STATES Patented August 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES OOUGHLAN, OF ST. LOUIS. MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMESGRIFFIN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

METAL RAIL FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 768,518, dated August 23, 1904.

Application filed October 5, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JAMES OOUGHLAN, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of .Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Metal Rails for Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to steel or iron rails used and employed for street or surface railways commonly operated by electricallydriven cars that run upon them; and the objects of my invention are, first, to provide a rail that will have the same configuration and traction-surfaces from its longitudinal central line above and below the same, so as to be reversible and susceptible of presenting two traction-surfaces and "rail configurations in one and the same length of the same metal rail; second, save time, labor, and material..-

Whenever it is desired to replace a rail which is worn out at its upper end, all that will be required is to release it from its fastenings and turn it upside down, refasten it, and a new traction-surface is afforded to replace the worn surface.

In the drawings, Figure I is a top view of a surface-railway crossing and extensions illustrative of a general plan thereof in which my invention is intended to be used. Fig. II is an end view of my improved reversible rail, showing same held in a chair or holder to the ties and having the slot for wheel-flange on opposite sides at top and bottom for straight rails; and Fig. III, a similar view showing the slot for the wheel-flange on same line at top and bottom so as to be used on curves reversibly.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, a represents the ties, and 1 my improved rail; 2, the inner rail-groove for wheel-flange; 2, the inner lip or flange of the groove; 3, flat part of rail-top; 4, chair for securing lower part of rail to ties.- Said chair comprises opposite verticalside walls having openings which communicate with an opening in the side of the web of the Serial No. 175,838. (No model.)

rail, and below the vertical side walls the chair is made to conform to the configuration of the flanges and tread of the rail, and the base of said chair is provided with a projection 2, formed thereon, which extends into the groove of the rail, said base being further provided with extended ends, on opposite sides thereof, having openings 7, through which pass bolts 6 for securing the rail to the tie a. After the rails have been slidably connected to the chair the same is secured thereto by means of bolts 5, passing through the openings in the side walls of the chair and through the opening in the web of the rail.

8 illustrates sections of corners at rail-crossings.

improved rail herein shown is susceptible of being reversed by substituting the top thereof for the bottom whenever it is desired to replace the running part of the rail that has become worn and presenting an uneven and irregular surface for the impact and traction of the wheel contact therewith and replace it by simply loosening and turning the rail bottom upward. The latter surface being previously unused is ready as a new rail to perform the work required. Thus much value in time, money, and material is saved without affecting the initial cost of rails themselves. As shown, this reversibility is ef- It is obvious from the foregoing that the fected in straight rails by having the con- I figuration for receiving the flange of wheel at the top part in use on the inside of the rail length, while the similar unused bottom part has the same on the outside when in place. As shown, the flat top part of the rail follows the same conditions.

In using my invention on curved rails, as shown in Fig. III, the grooves 52 for wheelflanges' are located'directly over each other instead of at opposite sides of the top and bottom. In the latter case the rails are exchanged end for endin replacing the bottom for the top in addition to its" being just turned over, top for bottom, which is all that is required for the straight rail.

Having thus described my invention, that portion conforn'iing to the configuration ol' the thread and its flanges and inelosing the same, and a pro ection formed on the base of the chair and extending into the grooves of the rail, said base of the chair having opposite extended ends for seen ring the chair to a railroad-tie, substantiall y as specified.

JAMES COUGllLAN.

\Vitn esses:

AUG. REBIGXACK, 1). F. BREEN. 

